Child-safe actuating device for normally sealed containers

ABSTRACT

A device for preventing the operation of a dangerous article by children while permitting operation of the article by adults. The device includes a curved hollow tube having the length and diameter of an adult finger that extends to a dangerous article actuator, such as a container opening lever, an aerosol bomb push button, an electrical appliance switch, etc. The length of the tube prevents operation of the actuator by a child&#39;&#39;s finger while permitting operation of the actuator by an adult&#39;&#39;s finger. The diameter of the tube prevents entry of a child&#39;&#39;s hand into the tube. And, the curve of the tube prevents operation of the actuator by foreign objects that a child might employ.

United States Patent [72] Inventor [21] Appl. No. [22] Filed [45] Patented [54] CHILD-SAFE ACTUATING DEVICE FOR NORMALLY SEALED CONTAINERS g 4 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S. Cl 206/42, 200/42, 206/1.5, 215/9, 220/41, 222/182 [51 Int. Cl. B65d 83/04 [50] Field ofSearc'h ..206/42, 1.5; 215/9; 137/382, 387; 222/182; 312/1; 200/42 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,828,698 10/1931 Berry 206/1 .5 3,097,756 7/1963 Dorsey 215/9 3,109,900 11/1963 Van Hook 206/1.5X 3,137,414 6/1964 Steinkamp 222/182 3,164,277 '1/1965 Reading 215/9 3,209,953 10/1965 Nichol 222/182 3,240,397 3/1966 Sagarin 222/182,

3,266,651 8/1966 Triglavcanin 215/9 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,246,429 10/1960 France 206/1.5

Primary Examiner-Joseph R. Leclair Assistant Examiner-Steven E, L ipman Attorney-Richards, Harris and Hubbard ABSTRACT: A device for preventing the operation of a dangerous article by children while permitting operation of the article by adults. The device includes a curved hollow tube having the length and diameter of an adult finger that extends to a dangerous article actuator, such as a container opening lever, an aerosol bomb push button, an electrical appliance switch, etc. The length of the tube prevents operation of the actuator by a child's finger while permitting operation of the actuator by an adults finger. The diameter of the tube prevents entry of a childs hand into the tube. And, the curve of the tube prevents operation of the actuator by foreign objects that a child might employ.

PAIENIED 12191:

INVENTOR JAMES A. CORLL QM DW ATTORNEYS jects.

taken through the centerthereof; f

BACKGROUNDOF THE INVENTION In todays world there are many articles, such as containers of medicine or liquids, aerosol bombs, electrical appliances and the like, thatare potentiallydangerous to children. Because of physical limitations, carelessness and inconvenience to adult users, it is impossible to always maintain all such articles out of the reach of children. This invention renders dangerous articles harmless to children by preventing actuation of such articles by, children, that is, by preventing children from opening medicine or liquid containers, from spraying the contents of aerosol bombs, from operating electrical appliances, etc.

There are presently many child-safe devices on the market, most of which are based on'the strength, mental maturity or manual coordination of the operator. Those based on strength are often difficult to operate even for adults and usually require the use of two hands Those based on mental maturity or mechanical coordination, such as combination locks and push-turn devices, are likewise inconvenient to use because they require a relatively,high level of concentration and/or dexterity. Accordingly, a need exists for a device that is at least as effective and direct in its manner of preventing injury to children as thedevices currently on the market, and yet is simple and convenient to use by adults. Moreover, such a device should be applicable to a wide range of household artiridge formed in it, lateral sides 21, an open finger receiving end 22, and an end 23 that is closed to finger insertion and that has the actuator 15 positioned n n in it.

Referring particularly to FIG. 2, an adult finger A has ample length when inserted through the end 22 of the tube I7 and bent palmwardly along a line roughly paralleling palmwardly I curved wall 18 to contact and operate the actuator 15 posioperation of the actuator by either a childs finger or other obf DESCRIPTION'OF TI-IE DRAWING Am ore' complete' unde'rstanding'of the invention may be had by referring to the following'detail'ed description when taken in conjunction with the drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is aperspective view ofone'embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the device shown in FIG. l

FIG. '3 is a partial sectional view similar to FIG.'2 showing the operation of the device;

FIG. 4 isa side view of the device shown-in FIG. 1 in which certain parts 'have been broken away more clearly to illustrate the operation of the device; i

FIG. 5 is a-sectional view of a second embodiment of the invention taken through the center thereof. 7

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to FIGS. 1-4, the invention is shown embodied in a dispenser 10 of a type designed for storing and dispensing pills. The dispenser 10 includes a secure container 11 which may be of any desired size and which is provided with an opening 12 for passing pills or other material in and out. The opening 12 is normally sealed by a sliding member 13 which is also provided with an opening 14. The opening 14 is normally offset from opening 12, and the opening l2'is thereby sealed, by the action of a curved spring actuator 15 integrally formed with the sliding member 13. The actuator 15 is positioned tioned at the end 23 of the tube 17, Operation of actuator I5 by the fingerA moves the sliding member 13 to the right. As is shown in FIG. 3, this action positions the opening 14 in alignment with the opening 12 of container 11, thereby unsealing the container. It should be noted that: the ,enclosure 16 is only slightly larger than the adult fingerVQLz-This sizerelationship permits insertion of even very large-adultfingers into the tube 17 while preventing insertion of even a very small shilds child s hand.

In FIG. 4 a composite illustration shows how theconstruetion of the dispenser 10 prevents operation of the actuator I5 by a child. If the child inserts its finger B into the enclosure I6 to the depth permitted by engagement of the webs between the childs fingers with the sides 21 of the tube 17, the finger B is unable to contact, and therefore co cannot operate, the actuator 15. If, on the other hand, the child inserts a straight, rigid object C, such as a pencil or stick, into the enclosure 16 the object C is prevented from contacting the actuator l5 by the obstacle created by the palmwardly curve of the wall 18 of the tube 17 between the end 22 and the end 23 containing the actuator 15. Finally, if the child inserts a flexible object D into the enclosure 16, the flexible object D is prevented from engaging the actuator 15 by the ridge 20 in the wall 19. These two features, finger length discrimination and obstacles to prevent actuator operation'by most foreign objects, are the most basic aspects of this invention.

As is best shown in FIG.;2, the dispenser 10 is conveniently gripped between a finger and the palm of an adult hand. This leaves the thumb and other fingers of the hand free to grasp the dispenser 10 thus making the use of the dispenser I0 :1 One-handed operation. In actual use, the dispenser fits naturally into the palm of the hand with most of the grasping being done quite easily by the palmwardly bent finger in the enclo- .sure l6pressing the container 10 into the palm so that the dispenser 10 can be considered a one-finger operated device. The dispenser 10 may be formed from any desired material,

.material. Preferably, however, the enclosure 16 should be formed from a material of sufficient rigidity that the actuator 15 cannot be operated by collapsing the tube 17. If the enclosure 16 is formed from a relatively tough material such as polyethylene, it can be cut by an without danger of its being cut by children. Then, the tube 17 can be trimmed along an appropriate one of a plurality of cutoff lines 24 shown in FIG. 1 thereby permitting access to the actuator I5 to a specific adult while forbidding access thereto to a specific child Referring now to FIG. 5, there is shown an alternate embodiment of the invention comprising an enclosure I6 mounted on a typical aerosol spray container 27. The enclosure 16 is illustrated as an attachment to an existing container; however, the enclosure, actuator, and container could be constructed as a single assembly with similar cooperation between the parts and exactly the same resulting function.

In the embodiment shown, the enclosure 16 includes a palmwardly curved adult finger length hollow tube 17' including an opening 22' andan opening 23' through which a pushdown actuator 15' for the container 27 extends. A housing 30 having closed sides extends from the member 17' to surround the opening 23 and prevent finger access to the actuator 15'. The lower open end 31 of housing 30 is rigidly attached to the container 27 such that it would be impossible for a small child to remove the enclosure 16'. A narrow vertical slot 34 is provided at the end 23' of enclosure 16' and is designed to allow spray to exit from the enclosure as the actuator is depressed downwardly. The portion of the tube 17' adjacent the end 23' .isprovided with a plurality of cutoff lines 24 which may be used to adjust the length of the tube 17, if desired. The assembly shown in FIG. accomplishes the same child-safe results through basically the same structure as the medicine dispenser shown in FIGS. 1-4.

Referring now to FIG. 6, still another alternate embodiment of the invention is shown as applied to an electrical switch such as an ON-OFF switch for a power saw or other potentially hazardous home appliance. A switch 37 having an ON- OFF actuator is mounted on a cover plate 38. A boxlike enclosure 16" is secured to the plate 38 to cover the ON side of actuator 15', thefOFF side protruding through a hole 39 provided in plate 38 and being readily accessible outside the enclosure. An opening 22" for insertion of a finger is provided in cover plate 38 and is positioned with respect to the actuator 15" such that the ON side of the actuator 15" can be engaged by an adults finger inserted through the opening 22" but cannot be reached by a relatively short childs finger inserted through the opening 22". The relative size and position of the opening 22" with respect to actuator 15" prevents engagement of the ON side of the actuator 15" by straight, rigid objects inserted through the opening 22'". Thus, although the physical form is somewhat different, the function and results of the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 7 are nearly identical with those of the other embodiments, i.e., operation of an actuator by small children is completely prevented while actuation by adults remains simple and straightforward.

It should be understood that the finger length discrimination which characterizes this invention is not the fine scale discrimination typical of ring sizes and the like but rather is a gross discrimination intended to distinguish between the relatively short fingers typical of children below the age of about 8 and the relatively long fingers typical of teenagers and adults. It should also be understood that the invention is not limited to the uses disclosed but is capable of many other uses, for example, in cabinet latches, gas and water valves, etc. where operation by children is to be prohibited. In fact, the dispenser shown in FIG. 1 can even be used in nonchild-safety applications, such as by ganging several dispensers into a multiple unit and then employing the multiple unit for one-handed control of the dispensing of a variety of parts, one contained in each dispenser of the multiple unit.

Although only three embodiments of the invention are shown in the drawing and described in the specification, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific embodiment described, but is capable of modification, rearrangement and substitution of parts and elements without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A child-safe device comprising:

a container having a normally sealed outlet formed in it;

an enclosure formed integrally with the container, having a length longer than the length of the longest finger of a child, and terminating in an aperture having a diameter smaller than the hand of the child; and

actuator means extending into the enclosure for opening the outlet upon engagement by an adult finger positioned in the enclosure, and for rescaling the opening upon release by the adult finger.

2. The child-safe device according to claim 1, wherein the enclosure includes cooperating surfaces that prevent engagement of the actuator means by straight, rigid objects inserted through the aperture.

3. The child-safe device according to claim 1, further including a ridge formed in the enclosure adjacent the actuator means for preventing engagement of the actuator means by flexible objects inserted through the aperture.

4. The child-safe device according to claim 1, further including a severable extension fixed to the apertured end of the enclosure whereby the distance from the aperture to the actuator means may be adjusted. 

1. A child-safe device comprising: a container having a normally sealed outlet formed in it; an enclosure formed integrally with the container, having a length longer than the length of the longest finger of a child, and terminating in an aperture having a diameter smaller than the hand of the child; and actuator means extending into the enclosure for opening the outlet upon engagement by an adult finger positioned in the enclosure, and for resealing the opening upon release by the adult finger.
 2. The child-safe device according to claim 1, wherein the enclosure includes cooperating surfaces that prevent engagement of the actuator means by straight, rigid objects inserted through the aperture.
 3. The child-safe device according to claim 1, further including a ridge formed in the enclosure adjacent the actuator means for preventing engagement of the actuator means by flexible objects inserted through the aperture.
 4. The child-safe device according to claim 1, further including a severable extension fixed to the apertured end of the enclosure whereby the distance from the aperture to the actuator means may be adjusted. 